One time, a buddy of mine who had plenty of Tennessee whiskey in his system told me that during the Confederate siege of Chattanooga in 1863, General Ulysses S. Grant would occasionally step outside his downtown headquarters and light a cigar and gaze up at the 2,392-foot summit of Lookout Mountain and wave at the Confederate artillery battery positioned on the summit's outcroppings. The battery crew would see Grant through its field glasses and lob a shell at him. The general was a hair shy of 5-foot-8--a good build for cycling, were he not an army man in an age before bicycles--and when the shell landed, always plenty short of Grant, he would no doubt think the exact thing a peaceful, nonmilitary cyclist might think in view of Lookout today: I want to get to the top of that.

The word Chattanooga, also according to legend, derives from a Creek Indian word meaning "rock coming to a point," which perfectly describes Lookout Mountain. The peak comes indeed to a point over the city's southern horizon and shapes its character and history, and if you are downtown with a bicycle, you won't have a choice: You will aim your bike toward Lookout and ride to the top.

The route up requires no special cartographic skill. It's point-and-shoot navigating. You roll down Broad Street and in a few miles, when it ends, you turn right on Cummings Highway, at the base of the peak, which is a Category 2 climb: 1,483 of elevation gain in 4.3 miles, for a stout average grade of 6.4 percent. In other words, it's going to hurt your legs but your mind won't care.

The first pitch rises gently above a set of railroad tracks and over Interstate 24 as it skirts a sweeping bend in the Tennessee River, and if for the slightest instant you think you may be lost, you can't miss the sign for Ruby Falls, one of the most famous attractions in the South. This is where you turn left onto the Lookout Mountain Scenic Parkway, which immediately gets steep till a leveling near the Ruby Falls parking lot. From the road, Ruby Falls looks like a small, ivy-covered castle, but beyond it lies a huge cave with a 145-foot-tall waterfall and 1,120 feet of rock looming above.

The rest of the way up, history seeps through your tires and into your frame and fork and into your body, and when you are gasping for breath, you can rejoice that you have so many more breaths to take when so many men gasped their last on this very ground. On your right lies Craven's House, scene of a fierce fight on November 24, 1863, during which a heavy fog rolled in during the afternoon, thus inspiring the name "the Battle Above the Clouds." The fog was so thick that both sides couldn't see what they were shooting at and therefore had to engage at very close quarters. Late that night, under a full moon, the Confederates abandoned their position atop Lookout to reinforce the lines at nearby Missionary Ridge, where another pitched battle would be fought the next day.

In this sense, when you suffer to the top of the parkway and continue ascending through the town of Lookout Mountain and past the famous Incline Railway Station toward Point Park, you are rolling toward a place of peace, for up top there was no battle, only an opportunity for people to gaze down on the beauty of Chattanooga, Moccasin Bend in the Tennessee River, Missionary Ridge lining the eastern flank of town, and Signal Mountain to the north. This may be the finest view in all of the South. And a view this grand, as General Grant would undoubtedly tell you, if he could, is always worth the hard climb to get there.

This oasis, tucked among shadowy hemlocks in the Blue Ridge, is a series of three small waterfalls cascading into deep pools. The water is Stoli clear and breath-sucking cold, but Skinny Dip is tightly hemmed by boulders and rock slabs ideal for lounging. Stop in during the 30-mile round-trip on the Blue Ridge Parkway between Pisgah Inn (17 miles south of Asheville) and Beech Gap. This is as high-altitude as cycling gets in the East; you never dip below the mile-high level. "It's the most dramatic stretch on the whole parkway," says Paul Wood, whose Black Bear Adventures runs tours along the road.

As sag wagons go, the smoke-belching, 129-year-old Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad is one of the quirkiest. Ride the 45 miles from Durango to tiny, high-elevation Silverton through the jagged San Juans, then kick back in an open-gondola railcar for the return. The ride starts with 10 miles in the mellow Animas Valley, then tilts upward over two 10,000-foot passes. On the snaking descents, the daring can reach 50 mph.

Worth knowing Tradition holds that riders depart when the train whistle blows, then race the lumbering beast on its three-hour, 15-minute pace.

PEDAL INTO CREOLE COUNTRYNew Orleans

Neighborhoods like Treme, Faubourg Marigny, and By-water harbor the irrepressibly funky heart and soul of Creole N'Awlins. Few visitors find them. To do it right, you need a cultural ambassador and a bike equal to the job: a fat-tire cruiser. Confederacy of Cruisers supplies both on a 6-mile, three-hour-long exploration of brightly painted shotgun houses, parks, churches, levees, dive bars, galleries, and restaurants. The good times, they will roll.

Key thing to know Ask the outfitter to adapt a tour to your interests, whether they run to gumbo, raspberry snowballs, or church jazz choirs.

Due to high demand, the folks at dazzling new Target Field, in the heart of the cycling-crazy Twin Cities, recently increased bike parking to 400 spots. Amp up for the Twins on a 24-mile lakeside cruise on off-road bike paths. Head south along the Mississippi River on West River Parkway to Minnehaha Falls. Then ride west on the Minnehaha Parkway to tag the Chain of Lakes--Nokomis, Harriet, Calhoun, and Cedar--before rolling to Target. The cold Leinenkugel and Kramarczuk's brat will never taste better.

Boardwalks come longer and wider than Rehoboth's mile of slats, but none tie into as fun a ride. Begin this T-shaped route at Cape Henlopen State Park, where the Atlantic Ocean and Delaware Bay converge, and sand dunes pile up to 80 feet high. A 3.5-mile bike trail loops past concrete towers built during World War II for spying on German U-boats and leads to a bike-in, walk-in beach. Bring a swimsuit, and shower and change at the bathhouse. Pedal west to Lewes, home of Dogfish Head Brewery. Roll out of town to the Junction and Breakwater Trail, which leads south 7 miles through oak and holly forest and waving marsh grass to Rehoboth. The smell of Thrasher's French Fries hangs over the boardwalk and squeals float by from the amusement park.

Worth knowing In Lewes, hit Touch of Italy for a Rocky Marciano, a hero of hot sopressata and sharp provolone.

All hewn wood and native stone, Crater Lake Lodge exudes 1920s national-park cool. Plus, you're sitting atop a volcano filled with shockingly translucent blue waters. Launch a 33-mile circuit around the caldera on Rim Road, which shows off the glimmering lake and views off the backside of Mt. Thielsen and the rest of the conical southern Cascades. Back at the lodge, savor your accomplishment over a gin and tonic on the patio.

Worth knowing No room at the inn? Tent at Mazama Village Campground ($21 a night), down off the crater but still in the national park. Reserve either at craterlakelodges.com.

Bonus RideFurnace Creek Inn, Death Valley
Arrive in fall to crank 54 miles to Scotty's Castle past giant dunes and the towering Amargosa and Panamint Mountains. The inn is an oasis of Spanish colonial architecture set amid salt flats.

At Acadia, the rising sun strikes 1,530-foot Cadillac Mountain before anywhere else in America, waves bash against the rock shoreline, and the popovers at Jordan Pond House come out the same as they have since the 1870s: chewy, hot, and big as softballs. Slathered with butter and strawberry preserves, they blow away any midride energy bar. Work up an appetite weaving among granite mountains and around rock-rimmed lakes on the park's 45-mile system of gravel carriage roads, a legacy of John D. Rockefeller, who deeded his land to the park service.

Worth knowing Add a 6.5-mile-round-trip side trek on paved road to the top of Mt. Cadillac for sprawling views of the rugged north Atlantic.

You don't have to be a down-hiller like Aaron Gwin to love the twisting, 3,600-foot-long Mountain Coaster at Jiminy Peak. Belt into a go-cart-style rail rider on tubular steel rails and let gravity do its thing at runaway speeds down banked curves. Hang in for the ride at the end of a 47-mile loop around Mt. Greylock, the highest point in Massachusetts. Scenery doesn't get any more New Englandy: white steeples, rock walls, grazing cows, spiffy college towns, whale-backed mountains, and tumbling rivers.

Worth knowing Jiminy also has one of the top mountain-bike parks in the East, with an express chairlift to the summit.

SUCK DOWN STEAMERSEssex, Massachusetts

The soft-shell clams here, dug from the mudflats of the nearby Great Marsh, enjoy a reputation for sweetness and a clean, salty bite. The prospect of a platter of steamers served with fries and cold lager is ample incentive for the Charles River Wheelmen on their 94-mile Beer and Steamers ride, which loops up the Merrimack River Valley into New Hampshire and then to the coast. Each clam house in Essex has ardent fans, but the wheelmen favor Woodman's. "You eat at picnic tables outside," says ride leader Melinda Lyon. "The view overlooks the Essex River and salt marshes. We don't race back to the cars after that lunch."

Worth knowing Beer and Steamers comes in both medium and long versions, both originating in Wakefield. Check the rides listed in the north region on the Wheelmen's site (crw.org).

The emergence of small-batch breweries is one sign that reports of America's demise are greatly exaggerated. One of the nation's new beer-making centers is Philadelphia and its environs, a development that hasn't escaped the attention of Matt Allyn, BICYCLING's online editor and coauthor of The Brewer's Apprentice. He linked four micro-breweries and brewpubs--Iron Hill, Stoudt's, Victory, and Sly Fox--into an 88-mile ramble taking in rolling farmland, cold suds, and very good french fries.

Worth knowing Make it an even half-dozen by tacking on McKenzie's Brew House and Legacy Brewing Company.

The toll road tops out above 14,000 feet--one of only two paved roads in the nation to do so--in the realm of mountain goats and views that inspired "America the Beautiful." It's all off-limits to cyclists but for one summer day, when you can ride the 49-mile up-and-back epic from Manitou Springs. The ride gains 7,700 vertical feet in 24.5 miles at grades as high as 15 percent; "fully supported" here means a sag wagon for summiters too wobbly to handle the guardrail-free descent at speed.

Worth knowing Sign up for the 2012 edition of Assault on the Peak at ridepikespeak.com.

The start of Happy Camp Road, a scenic byway, lies at 1,500 feet. It's 24 miles of forest road to the Bolan Mountain Lookout, a glassed-in, 14-by-14-foot aerie in the sky that sits 6,242 feet above sea level. But once you do the climb, you can settle in: The retired forest-fire lookout station rents for $40 a night. Views reach west to the Pacific. To the southeast, Mt. Shasta's snowy cone stands at attention. One very long swan dive below lies Bolan Lake, ideal for a cooling dip on a hot day.

Worth knowing To book it, visit Recreation Rentals of the Pacific Northwest (fs.fed.us/r6/recreation/rentals).

Remember pedaling through mud puddles at age eight? Reconnect with your inner second-grader at the open-air mud pool at Ojo Caliente Resort, west of Taos. Slather on a blend of clays meant to help you detoxify, then bake in the sun ($18 weekday/$28 weekends, ojospa.com). The resort figures prominently on a 60-mile loop through the forested river valleys and red-rock country that inspired painter Georgia O'Keeffe. The ride features remote high desert, long riverside stretches, and cafes that serve New Mexico's famed green chile. If you'd rather soak sore muscles afterward, three pools that emerge from layers of volcanic rock are said to confer specific benefits, from relieving depression (lithium) to improving skin conditions (arsenic).

Worth knowing Work in a stop at Ghost Ranch, north of Abiquiu, where O'Keeffe created some of her best work.

Bonus RideAtlanta Hot Springs, Idaho

Five nights, five natural hot springs. Western Spirit's Sawtooth Mountains tour also includes singletrack detours on the way to Atlanta Hot Springs, which features 106-degree pools set in a meadow surrounded by craggy peaks.

Neatly tended vineyards march in rank down to a sliver of water tucked in a glacially carved valley. The Loire in France? Germany's Rheingau? Nah, you're on the Finger Lakes, renowned for both cycling and wine, riding the western ridge above Seneca Lake on The Five Lakes 50. The route is a favorite of the Finger Lakes Cycling Club: From historic Watkins Glen, the lollipop-shaped outing shares broad-shouldered back roads with Amish buggies while passing five wineries, including award-winning Glenora.

This site does not support embedded trip maps. View the trip &lt;a data-cke-saved-href='http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/1142025' href='http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/1142025' _fcksavedurl='http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/1142025' _fcksavedurl='http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/1142025' _fcksavedurl='http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/1142025' _fcksavedurl='http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/1142025' _fcksavedurl='http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/1142025'&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; instead.

If you build it, they will come… by bike. Roll in, run the bases at the carved-from-a-cornfield baseball diamond made famous in Field of Dreams, then hold a seance for Shoeless Joe Jackson. RAGBRAI director T.J. Juskiwiecz considers the 30-mile route from Dyersville to Dubuque--part of last year's tour--among the finest in Iowa: